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Play Retraces Isabella Blow's Last Days

A great fan of Philip Treacy, Isabella Blow was rarely photographed without a hat. (photo: Dave Bennett/gettyimages.com)

Known for her fearless personal style and covetable closet, late British fashion icon and magazine editor Isabella Blow is the subject of the Mad Cat Theatre's production of Blow Me. After garnering weeks of international attention, the world premiere play by Jessica Farr enters its final weekend engagements this Thursday, August 29 at the Miami Theater Center.

Once Anna Wintour's assistant, Blow established herself as fashion director of Tatler magazine and the style section of Britain's Sunday Times. However, many remember her as the sartorial godmother who helped catapult the careers of Alexander McQueen and Philip Treacy. In private, Blow grappled with bi-polar disorder, ovarian cancer, disinheritance, and infertility, all of which contributed to numerous (no less than seven) suicide attempts, the final of which was in 2008.

Blow Me takes place just before Blow's untimely death, with the namesake character reflecting on those who have entered and exited her life. Farr intentionally avoids discussing the events that may have prompted Blow's suicide: '[Blow Me] focuses on her shortcomings, as well as celebrating who she is," Farr told The Daily Mail. "It’s not my place to answer why she killed herself."

Despite the play's looming tragedy, actress Erin Joy Schmidt brings out Blow's celebrated pizazz and stylish joie de vivre. The acting, as well as the vintage costume pieces, bring the fallen icon back into the spotlight, where she belongs. 9816 N.E. 2nd Ave., Miami Shores